District Court and the town and village courts are the
local Criminal Courts in Suffolk County.
Where the Handbook refers to Criminal Court,
in the five west end towns of Suffolk County you might substitute District
Court.

There is no Central Booking facility.
Generally, arrestees are processed in the precinct and brought
to the District Court within 24 hours for arraignment.

The police department may decide to release you on Station
House Bail once you are arrested. If you are
able to make this bail, the police will give you an Appearance
Ticket, telling you when and where to appear in court
for arraignment. If you appear as directed, the police
department returns the money posted as station house bail
to you (though the court may decide to set bail on you
at arraignment).

There is no Criminal Justice Agency (C.J.A.).
The Suffolk County Probation
Department interviews arrestees before arraignment and
submits a ROR report to the arraignment judge.

At Arraignment, if you are able to hire
your own attorney, the judge will not generally appoint
a Legal Aid or 18-B attorney to represent you for arraignment
only.

Arraignments are conducted every day of the year, including
weekends and holidays. The arraignment courtroom is D11,
which opens at 9:00 AM. There are no scheduled evening or
night sessions for arraignments in Suffolk District Court.

Though bench warrants are signed for defendants
who fail to appear as directed by the court, the District
Court also notifies by mail of adjourned
dates if the defendant does not appear. It is important
to inform the court if your
address has changed.

If you do not appear for a court date or to pay a fine,
District Court may also suspend your drivers license in
addition to or instead of issuing a warrant. When you do
appear in court, you will need to pay a fee to lift the
suspension from your license.

If the Grand Jury votes to indict you,
your case will be transferred from District Court to County
Court (in Riverhead).